


The Pact

by amuk



Series: Hitsuzen [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Comedy, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Magic, Summoning Circles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-27
Updated: 2013-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-27 05:05:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/658307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amuk/pseuds/amuk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She certainly is powerful, but he isn’t sure this is exactly what he had in mind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Pact

**Author's Note:**

> Theme: #28 // Summoning

It starts out as expected. The wind blows harshly, the trees sway wildly, and it is all he can do to remain standing. Not that he lets anyone know that—his face remains impassive, his body straight as an arrow.

 

In the middle of the field in front of him, a small circle of light appears. It grows, a new moon becoming full, and a steady roar is all that he can hear. A waterfall’s thunder, speaking of hidden currents and power and majesty.

 

It is something he wants, especially the power.

 

At his right, a small blob of yellow lies on the ground. The ground shakes, crumbling and reforming itself around the beam, and he has to squint to see.

 

Still, it is as it should be.

 

In the sky, the pearl clouds cover the midnight sun.

 

-x-

 

If you want to summon something, there are a few things you should have.

 

First, a spell book. Names mean everything in this game, the difference between summoning the lord of thunder or the moon’s rabbit. A small misspelling, a slight mispronunciation, and all is lost.

 

It does, after all, take a few months to prepare. A few weeks if you are good.

 

And Sasuke _is_ good. That much is expected, considering who his parents are, considering what blood that runs through his veins. He was not given magic, he was born into it. Reading materials were the various methods of using power, lessons were on tactics and ancient wizards, meals were conjured up by him.

 

He used to spend his free time in his room, an old pencil in his hand and yellowed paper on his desk. It would crinkle as he drew runes upon runes over it, always careful not to complete them lest he accidentally cause something.

 

Perfection was what he craved and so became what he is. What he drew to summon he had practiced a hundred times.

 

Which is why, when he sees what he has summoned, Sasuke doesn’t look down at the carvings until two hours after the fact.

 

-x-

 

His first summoning—not really, when he thought of it. He had summoned since he was eight but this was the first summoning he did on his own.

 

No parents, no brother. He did this one in a field in the backyard, away from prying eyes.

 

Sasuke’s first summoning produced a wily boy with airy hair and a strong sense of self-preservation. He had been trying to summon a fox spirit, a cunning one, but instead he got a slip of a boy.

 

 _Naruto_ is what the fox called himself. Apparently this was his human form, the shape he took to save energy.

 

Acceptable. Understandable.

 

Sasuke hadn’t bargained for the human form to come with a personality to boot. Especially one that would get him into so much trouble.

 

This summoning—his first one after the failure of a fox—is also human-shaped and he almost cringes when he thinks he is in store for a second Naruto.

 

Almost, but doesn’t. He is a Uchiha, after all, and certain standards have to be held.

 

-x-

 

The second thing you need to summon is a lot of time and patience. Drawing the circle, precisely, perfectly, will take at least a day. More, if you are summoning a powerful creature.

 

Sasuke always aims for the top, so this took approximately a week. It didn’t help that Naruto would accidentally erase a mark or smudge something or...

 

Well, it wasn’t helpful at all that Naruto was being Naruto.

 

-x-

 

“Eh?” is the first sound to come out of the clearing. A female voice, a little high-pitched and confused, repeats the sound before tumbling out of the pillar of light.

 

The beam stops immediately after and she stumbles onto the ground. Sasuke covers his eyes slightly, peering at her through a crack as he adjusts to the lack of light. At this time Naruto sits up, the wind stops blowing, and the sun emerges once more.

 

“Hey, Sasuke-teme, it’s a girl!” His voice is chirping and excited and loud.

 

It grates on Sasuke’s ears, the headache that comes after using this much power already starting, and without missing a beat, he punches the boy.

 

Already Sasuke is seeing two, three, four versions of this girl getting up off the ground. The world is a little hazy but it will come to pass soon enough.

 

“Of course I am a girl!” she yells back, indignant, and also not helping the roaring pain.

 

She’s too far away to hit so he uses some more magic to keep her quiet.

 

 _Not a good idea,_ he thinks to himself as he stumbles slightly, _definitely not a good idea._ The headache grows and the haze turns into a dense cloud.

 

He hasn’t used this much power since he was seven and trying a spell for the first time—a spell that was far too above his level.

 

Just what had he summoned?

 

He doesn’t think much more on this subject as, to his shame, he collapses two seconds later.

 

-x-

 

The third thing one needs when summoning is to have a lot of power, more than the thing summoned at the very least. It needs to be demonstrated to the summoned being every now and then to prove just who is boss.

 

That is the reason that Sasuke fights with Naruto so much—the fox-boy just doesn’t understand that he is not the master, _Sasuke_ is.

 

As Sasuke drifts back into consciousness, he registers a cool hand on his forehead and two voices worriedly whispering over him.

 

Fainting in front of the summoned spirit just minutes after she arrives...probably not a good show of power.

 

Trying to make up for it, Sasuke tries blinking his eyes and sitting up but the hand forces him down just as he raises his head.

 

“Not yet,” the voice is firm and gentle, like his mother’s. Like the sloping hills. He almost obeys when he realizes who it is.

 

He gets up the second time, brushing away the hand and ignoring the dizziness that comes with this.

 

“Is he always like this?” This time the voice is annoyed.

 

“Nah,” Naruto replies, chuckling. “Sometimes he—”

 

“Naruto.” With that, the fox stops talking. Good, his magic has returned for the most part. Opening his eyes, he turns to see the first speaker.

 

The first thing he sees is a pair of ancient green eyes and fluttering pink hair. The wind has started again, probably as a pact has yet to be formed and she is only still here on borrowed time. Then he sees the pale, moon-like skin, and for a moment he fears he did summon the moon’s rabbit.

 

Then he remembers her rough palm, the grains of soil that fell off his forehead as he rose, and he knows better.

 

“Can you control the earth?”

 

Her eyes narrow slightly, judging his character instantly. A sharp canine chews her lip and she nods once. “I can. Are you then the one who summoned me and the one that wants to be _my_ master?”

 

He doesn’t miss the stress on the ‘my’, the arrogance of it, and smirks briefly.

 

“Indeed, you will be _my_ servant.”

 

She snorts. “Presumptuous human, automatically assuming that I shall be yours.”

 

“I have summoned you and as soon as the pact is formed, you shall be.” There are no doubts to this. Summonings enjoy their first taste of the world after remaining as spirits for so long and she is just the same. He can see her hands digging into the earth, her face tilted up to the sun.

 

She wants to stay and will do what he wants in order to do so.

 

“True, but my pact demands are high. Higher still than the Kyuubi’s was.” Naruto’s eyes widen at this. “I knew him, just as I once knew you, Naruto. But you have forgotten it—just as I wished. I had hoped to not be summoned for some time yet but this foolish mortal has done so.”

 

Sasuke frowns at this and coolly replies. “You are, _foolish_ summoning, forgetting who has kept you here for so long without a pact. I can just as quickly stop my magic from keeping you here.”

 

A small graces her lips and she looks at once gentle, no longer the perilous cliff she was a moment ago. “A fiery one! I have not had one in eons. And,” she gives him a critical once-over, her now-soft hands tilting his face. He jerks away but he can still feel the fingers dancing on his skin. “And a pretty one too.”

 

“Don’t touch me again.”

 

“We shall see about that,” she says with a practiced air, and just as her skin changed her language does too. “Now, my handsome wanna-be master, think you can handle the pact?”

 

“Of course.”

 

“Stubborn, aren’t you? Let’s see how long that lasts.” She leans closer, giving him a brief kiss. It isn’t long, the span of a blink,  but already he can feel his power draining from him into her, a complete circuit, before he can breathe again.

 

The electricity still stays on his lips, a charge wanting to escape, and he knows without a doubt that she will take more away from him.

 

“That’s step one,” she tells him, pursing her lips. “We will have to do this again tomorrow and it will be a month before it’s done. You need to grow stronger, though. This is barely enough to maintain my human form, let alone my actual shape.”

 

“Who are you?” The question leaves him before he can stop it. Her pact is different from the others, no blood marks or verbal vows. The magic used is greater, his strength nearly sapped, and it is only because he is sitting that he can still look her straight on.

 

“Me?” There is a mischievous sparkle in her eyes, a mock-modest tone to her voice. “Let’s say you summoned one of Earth’s pillars and be done with that.”

 

It will be six months before he discovers that he has summoned a being a step below a god, eight before he discovers just what her identity is, and a year before he can really handle the least of her energy demands.

 

(It will be two years and then some for him to get used to her anger.)

 

At this point, though, all he can see is the sly twist of her mouth and wonder just what he has gotten himself into.


End file.
